Claim CH512:

Source:

Response:

Woodmorappe (1996, 1-44) has done a detailed analysis of the
possibility of fitting all animals aboard the Ark. He found that the
animals, together with the food and water they require, would fit in
about 90 percent of the available space. However, he made several
invalid assumptions that, when corrected, fill the ark past overflowing
(Isaak 1998).

The "kinds" used in Woodmorappe's calculations were genera. Taking
individual species, which is a much more reasonable definition of
kind in the context of the ark, increases the load three- or
fourfold.

Woodmorappe did not account for the extra clean animals,
considering their number negligible. However, he believed that the
only clean animals would be thirteen domestic ruminants
traditionally considered clean. But if the Bible is taken
literally, all ruminants would be considered clean. Under
Woodmorappe's assumption, the extra clean animals would increase the
load by 1.5 percent, or 3 percent if you include seven pairs of the
animals. Taking all ruminants increases the load by 14 or 28
percent.

Woodmorappe included only juveniles of animals
larger than
about 10 kg. This assumption, however, is unbiblical and, for some
animals, impractical. Taking adult animals would increase the
total mass more than thirteenfold. Taking even some of these
animals as adults or taking older juveniles could easily fill the
ark beyond capacity.

According to the creation model, dinosaurs and other animals now
extinct would have been alive at the time of the flood and
therefore would be aboard the ark. The only extinct animals that
Woodmorappe included in his calculations were the ones that were
known at the time. Since then, many other dinosaur genera have
been discovered, and no doubt there are many more as yet
undiscovered.

Woodmorappe excluded land invertebrates from
his
calculations, despite the fact that they must have been aboard the
ark. These animals are small enough that they alone would not
have increased the load significantly, but they are numerous enough
and have many special requirements, so the infrastructure needed to
house and care for them would have been significant.

Woodmorappe made no allowance for food spoilage or water wasted
from spilling, although the conditions he described aboard the ark
guarantee that both of these problems would have been severe.